going for surgery..need anesthesia? how does it work?

Question

kinda scared to have to use anesthesia. hows it work? like, what do you feel? any stories or experiences? thanks..

Answer 1

1. you'll get an intravenous catheter inserted, and they'll at first just be infusing some clear fluid with electrolytes in it- kind of like iv gatorade, to compensate for the fact that you've had nothing to eat or drink since midnight. no medications given at this point unless you're very nervous- then they can give you an iv sedative called versed, or midazolam.

2. when you get transported to the operating room, the anesthesiologist will attach his routine monitors- bp cuff, ekg heart monitor, and pulse oximeter (clip with a shiny red light) on your finger. then you'll breath oxygen through a mask while medication is injected into your intravenous that will put you to sleep in about 10 seconds. that medication is called propofol. it's white and it may cause some irritation in the iv site, but that doesn't last long.

3. you will be kept asleep using a combination of inhaled as well as intravenous medications. at the conclusion of surgery, these medications are all turned off and you'll gradually regain consciousness. that usually takes about 1 hour.

4. even though our anesthetics wear off pretty quickly, the pain medications can last longer- and that's obviously a good thing. we don't want you to be in pain. the pain medications can have sedative side effects, so depending on how painful the surgery is, you may remain somewhat sleepy even after an hour.

5. post-op nausea is the single most common side effect after an anesthetic. incidence is approximately 25% if you do get nauseous, you'll receive an iv anti-nausea medication in the recovery room.

6. other than nausea, there's very little to worry about in terms of the anesthetic. modern anesthesia is very safe, and catastrophic or life-threatening risks are exceedingly rare.

Answer 2

There are different types of anesthesia. Depending on your procedure, you may not have to be put to sleep. The "how does it work?" question would lead to a complicated answer involving transport of sodium across nerve cell membranes - you probably don't care about that.

General anesthesia is a drug-induced state of unconsciousness. If you do have general anesthesia, here is what happens:

You'll need an i.v., which is usually started by nurses in the pre-op area. If you're nervous, ask for some sedation. Once all the paperwork is signed, there should be no problem with having a little something to take the edge off.

You go to the OR (in surgicenters, we usually have patients walk to the OR; in hospitals, we wheel them in on a stretcher), have some monitors attached (blood pressure, EKG and oxygen monitor clip) and have you breathe some oxygen through a mask. If the mask scares you, let your anesthesiologist know - we can do other things to get you some extra oxygen. If you didn't get sedation pre-op, you'll get a slug of it in the OR. You may or may not remember going off to sleep. We inject medicine into the i.v., and you drift off to sleep in a few seconds.

After you go to sleep, we have to make sure you breathe. Many times, a breathing tube is inserted into your windpipe and you go on a ventilator. Sometimes we use a mask and let you breathe on your own. It depends on the surgery, surgeon and patient.

After you are asleep, we keep you unconscious with gas. It's easy to make changes in the amount of anesthesia with gas - we can turn it up and down to balance how much the surgeon is bothering you. We also give pain medications, and sometimes we paralyze your muscles to make it easier for the surgeon to do his/her thing. Every case is different, so every anesthetic is different.

At the end, we turn off the gas, and you wake up. You should get medicine to prevent nausea, and enough of the pain medicine should be in your system to keep you relatively comfortable. If you are nauseated or in pain when you wake up, tell your recovery nurse and you'll get more medicine to fix the problem.

If you are having surgery on the lower half of your body, consider a spinal. It sounds a lot scarier than it is. A spinal is an injection in your back, into the sac of fluid below where your spinal cord ends. It makes you unable to feel anything from about the waist down. We can then sedate you so you don't care what's going on. If you DO want to know what's going on (some people like to watch knee arthroscopy, for example) you can have your surgeon tell you what is found and what he/she does.

People who have spinals feel a lot better in recovery than people who have had generals. But both do well.

I have hundreds of stories, but there isn't room for them here.

Answer 3

They told me I'd first lose control of my eyes. I thought that was interesting and I tried to fight it, but it was a losing battle and I didn't really care at that point. They talk to you and you babble back. It may make sense to you at the time but they've heard it all and realize it doesn't really mean anything except to indicate how far under you've gotten. So don't worry about embarrassing yourself by this. It isn't like being hypnotized and told to act like you're a chicken or anything like that. It's just a strange way of falling asleep and there really isn't much if any anxiety about it. If you try to hold on, it gets to be too much work so you let it slip away.

When you first wake up, you may say something but it may be limited to how you hurt. You won't remember it and then you'll fall asleep again. Then you wake up and your eyes feel all gummy. You remember from here on. A nurse will wipe off the lubricant they put on your eyes to keep them moist.

They may offer you a cup of soda and you'll probably want it because they had a tube down your throat, leaving it sore. If you remember, ask if you can have a cup of ice chips to suck on. Sweet soda only helps you puke, and you'll probably be queasy afterward for several hours.

If they have you on an IV before you go in to surgery, you'll notice that arm and hand will get puffy. That's normal. Also, don't hesitate to ask a nurse to go and pee. The IV does that, too. They prefer it because otherwise you'll empty yourself on the operating table. It happens, but while you're still awake you might as well be comfortable.

It wasn't really bad the old way, either--back when they put a wire mesh mask covered with gauze over your mouth and nose and dripped ether on it. Although it was definitely a fire hazard and you always puked when you came out.

Nothing to it, though. Once you start to go south, before you lose control entirely, you can even make a verbal pass at a pretty nurse or a handsome doctor and they'll just think it's the drugs. So you can get away with murder for about ten seconds. I'm sure they like a happy patient anyway.

Answer 4

When I had surgery, They gave me Versed to begin with and I don't remember anything until 6 hours later when I woke up in my room!General Anesthesia is medication that basically puts you in a deep sleep, if it is done correctly. I had a nerve block ( a needle with medication inserted above the surgical spot that deadends the nerve) done also for a knuckle surgery, I didn't feel anything but some tugs and pull, but when the block wore off, it felt like my arm was asleep( like when you set on your foot and you get that tingling hurt feeling) magnified by 200. Good Luck!

Answer 5

I just underwent surgery with general anesthesia. You go to sleep and then you wake up, that's it. I woke up and thought that nothing had been done.

Answer 6

Depends on whether it's inhaled or injected.

Inhaled: This works relatively slowly (takes a minute or two). You will drift from being awake to being really fogged up (like when really, really sleepy or drunk) and then pass out. Then you don't know anything till you wake up.

Injected: Fast. For a few seconds you don't feel anything, then you immediately pass out.

Answer 7

YOU DONT FEEL ANYTHING IF ITS LOCAL ANAESTHESIA YOU WILL BE AWAKE BUT WONT FEEL A THING IF ITS GLOBAL YOU WILL SLEEP ONLY TO WAKE UP AND SEE YOUR STITCHES WHEREVER YOU GOT OPERATED ....SO CHILL IT TOTALLY SUPRESS YOU NERVOUR RESPONSE SO THE PAIN SIGNALS FROM THE NERVES DONT REACH YOUR BRAIN